Signaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A wireless device may identify an aggregation capability to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. The wireless device may in some cases broadcast this aggregation capability (e.g., periodically). Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may transmit the aggregation capability in response to a request received from another wireless device. In some cases, the first wireless device may transmit a request to a second wireless device inquiring about aggregation capabilities of the second wireless device. The second wireless device may respond with its aggregation capabilities (e.g., or may broadcast its aggregation capabilities independently of receiving the response). The wireless devices may establish a multi-link session based at least in part on the indicated aggregation capabilities.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present application for patent claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/448,326 to Zhou et. al., titled “WI-FIMULTICHANNEL AGGREGATION”, filed Jan. 19, 2017, assigned to the assigneehereof, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and morespecifically to signaling for link aggregation setup andreconfiguration.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, andpower). A wireless network, for example a wireless local area network(WLAN), such as a Wi-Fi (i.e., Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11) network may include an access point (AP) thatmay communicate with one or more stations (STAs) or mobile devices. TheAP may be coupled to a network, such as the Internet, and may enable amobile device to communicate via the network (or communicate with otherdevices coupled to the access point). A wireless device may communicatewith a network device bi-directionally. For example, in a WLAN, a STAmay communicate with an associated AP via downlink and uplink. Thedownlink (or forward link) may refer to the communication link from theAP to the STA, and the uplink (or reverse link) may refer to thecommunication link from the STA to the AP.

Some wireless communications systems may support multi-link aggregation,where transmissions may be communicated in parallel over two or morelinks between two wireless devices (e.g., AP and STA) during acommunications session. Such a multi-link session may benefit a wirelesssystem in terms of increased data throughput, trunking gains, reducedlatency, and decreased power consumption. Each link of a multi-linksession may be associated with respective physical components andlogical processing components of a given wireless device, and thesecomponents may be used to support multi-link communications. Such anarchitecture may allow for independent or joint control of two or morewireless links in the multi-link session. Multi-link communications maybenefit from improved techniques to setup and tear down wireless links.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,or apparatuses that support signaling for link aggregation setup andreconfiguration. In aspects of the following, link reconfiguration maybe understood to include link setup and tear down. Similarly, link setupmay in some cases be understood to include aggregation capabilityexchange as well as initial link configuration for the multi-linksession. Generally, the described techniques provide for signaling(e.g., over-the-air (OTA) signaling) used for link aggregation setup(configuration), reconfiguration, and tear down. Such signaling mayinclude an indication of an aggregation capability of a given wirelessdevice. By way of example, each wireless device (e.g., which may be aSTA or AP, and may in some cases be referred to as a node) may broadcastits supported aggregation types. Such aggregation types may includepacket-based aggregation and/or flow-based aggregation types andtechniques. Additionally or alternatively, a wireless device mayindicate a supported aggregation type, for example in a unicasttransmission such as a probe response or an association response. Inother examples, the wireless device may multicast or broadcast theresponse. For both packet-based aggregation and flow-based aggregation,wireless devices may communicate setup options, reconfiguration options,and teardown options (e.g., in addition to other control information).Considerations for these communications are outlined below, includingmethods for conveying the control information (e.g., using a managementframe, a control frame, new control fields in existing frames, etc.).

By way of example, in the case of packet-based aggregation, all trafficflows (e.g., or frame types or traffic identifiers (TIDs)) may beaggregated over the same set of links. In such examples, link setup,reconfiguration, and tear down may use negotiation of a commontransmitter address (TA) and receiver address (RA) across links. Inother examples, a set of traffic flows (e.g., or frame types or TIDs)may be aggregated over a particular set of links. In such examples, thelink setup, reconfiguration, and tear down operations may additionallyrequire an indication of the set of traffic flows and/or the set oflinks to be aggregated. Similarly, in the case of flow-basedaggregation, link setup, reconfiguration, and tear down operations maybe based at least in part on a TID and/or a corresponding linkidentifier. In each of these examples, the aggregation information maybe conveyed in data frames, control frames, management frames, existingcontrol fields of a frame, and/or new control fields defined for aframe, such as fields in a data, control, and/or management frame.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeidentifying first aggregation capability information indicating acapability of the first wireless device to communicate in parallel overa plurality of wireless links, receiving second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links,and establishing the multi-link session between the first wirelessdevice and the second wireless device based at least in part on theidentified first aggregation capability information and the receivedsecond aggregation capability information.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for identifying first aggregation capability informationindicating a capability of the first wireless device to communicate inparallel over a plurality of wireless links, means for receiving secondaggregation capability information from the second wireless device, thesecond aggregation capability information indicating a capability of thesecond wireless device to communicate in parallel over the plurality ofwireless links, and means for establishing the multi-link sessionbetween the first wireless device and the second wireless device basedat least in part on the identified first aggregation capabilityinformation and the received second aggregation capability information.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to identify first aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the first wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links,receive second aggregation capability information from the secondwireless device, the second aggregation capability informationindicating a capability of the second wireless device to communicate inparallel over the plurality of wireless links, and establish themulti-link session between the first wireless device and the secondwireless device based at least in part on the identified firstaggregation capability information and the received second aggregationcapability information.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to identify first aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the first wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links,receive second aggregation capability information from the secondwireless device, the second aggregation capability informationindicating a capability of the second wireless device to communicate inparallel over the plurality of wireless links, and establish themulti-link session between the first wireless device and the secondwireless device based at least in part on the identified firstaggregation capability information and the received second aggregationcapability information.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for transmitting a request for thesecond aggregation capability information of the second wireless device,wherein the second aggregation capability information may be receivedfrom the second wireless device based at least in part on thetransmitted request.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, receiving the secondaggregation capability information from the second wireless devicecomprises: receiving receive a management frame, a control frame, or adata frame that includes the second aggregation capability information.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the management frame, thecontrol frame, or the data frame comprises a beacon, or a proberesponse, or an association response, or a dedicated action frame, or acontrol field in the management frame, or a control field in the controlframe, or a control field in the data frame, or a combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for receiving a request for the firstaggregation capability information from the second wireless device. Someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above may further include processes, features, means,or instructions for transmitting, to the second wireless device inresponse to the received request, the first aggregation capabilityinformation of the first wireless device.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first aggregationcapability information comprises an indication of a duration for whichthe first wireless device may be willing to communicate in parallel overthe plurality of wireless links.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, receiving the request for thefirst aggregation capability information comprises: receiving amanagement frame, a control frame, or a data frame that includes therequest for the first aggregation capability information.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the management frame, thecontrol frame, or the data frame comprises a probe request, or anassociation request, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field inthe management frame, or a control field in the control frame, or acontrol field in the data frame, or a combination thereof.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second aggregationcapability information may be received with the received request for thefirst aggregation capability information.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for advertising the first aggregationcapability information of the first wireless device.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for transmitting a request forconfiguration information of the second wireless device for themulti-link session. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for receiving theconfiguration information from the second wireless device in response tothe transmitted request.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for modifying one or more of theplurality of wireless links based at least in part on configurationinformation of the first wireless device for the multi-link session andthe configuration information received from the second wireless device.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the second wirelessdevice, a request for configuration information of the first wirelessdevice for the multi-link session. Some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described abovemay further include processes, features, means, or instructions fortransmitting the configuration information of the first wireless deviceto the second wireless device in response to the received request.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for modifying one or more of theplurality of wireless links based at least in part on the configurationinformation of the first wireless device and configuration informationreceived from the second wireless device for the multi-link session.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first aggregationcapability information, or the second aggregation capabilityinformation, or both comprise an aggregation type, or linkidentification information, or a receive queue size, or a blockacknowledgement bitmap size, or an indication of fragmentation support,or a combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for transmitting a reconfigurationrequest for the multi-link session to the second wireless device.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reconfiguration requestcomprises a traffic identifier, or a flow identifier, or a frame type,or a combination thereof associated with a wireless link of theplurality of wireless links.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reconfiguration requestfurther comprises a link identifier associated with the wireless link.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the second wirelessdevice, a response to the reconfiguration request comprising anindication of at least one reconfigured wireless link of the pluralityof wireless links. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for communicatingwith the second wireless device based at least in part on the receivedresponse to the reconfiguration request.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for transmitting a first set of packetsto the second wireless device via a first wireless link of the pluralityof wireless links, the first set of packets associated with a firsttraffic identifier. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for transmitting asecond set of packets to the second wireless device via a secondwireless link of the plurality of wireless links, the second set ofpackets associated with the first traffic identifier.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for transmitting a first set of packetsto the second wireless device via a first wireless link of the pluralityof wireless links, the first set of packets associated with a firsttraffic identifier. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for transmitting asecond set of packets to the second wireless device via a secondwireless link of the plurality of wireless links, the second set ofpackets associated with a second traffic identifier.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for identifying a transmission type fora set of packets to be transmitted to the second wireless device, thetransmission type comprising broadcast, multicast, or unicast. Someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above may further include processes, features, means,or instructions for transmitting the set of packets over a firstwireless link of the plurality of wireless links based at least in parton identifying the transmission type for the set of packets asbroadcast, or multicast, or a combination thereof, or transmitting theset of packets over a second wireless link of the plurality of wirelesslinks based at least in part on identifying the transmission type forthe set of packets as unicast.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for identifying a frame type for a setof packets to be transmitted to the second wireless device, the frametype comprising data, control, or management. Some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove may further include processes, features, means, or instructionsfor transmitting the set of packets over a first wireless link of theplurality of wireless links based at least in part on identifying theframe type for the set of packets as data, or transmitting the set ofpackets over a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless linksbased at least in part on identifying the frame type for the set ofpackets as control, or management, or a combination thereof.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, at least one of the pluralityof wireless links comprises a channel in a shared radio frequencyspectrum band.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, a first wireless link of theplurality of wireless links may be in a first radio frequency spectrumband having a first path loss value. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links may be in asecond radio frequency spectrum band having a second path loss valuethat may be greater than the first path loss value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationthat supports signaling for link aggregation setup and reconfigurationin accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports signaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3 through 5 illustrate example process flows that supportsignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a layer configuration that supportssignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 7 through 9 show block diagrams of a device that supportssignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a system including a wirelessdevice that supports signaling for link aggregation setup andreconfiguration in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11 through 20 illustrate methods for signaling for linkaggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some wireless communications systems may support multiple, parallelwireless links between communicating devices, for example, to increasethroughput, to improve link efficiency, to reduce latency, etc. Awireless link may refer to a communication path between devices, andeach wireless link may support one or more channels (e.g., logicalentities) that support multiplexing of data, such that during at leastsome duration of time, transmissions or portions of transmissions mayoccur over both links at the same time, either synchronously orasynchronously. The wireless links may be in the same or different radiofrequency (RF) spectrum bands. Each link of a multi-link session may beassociated with respective physical components (e.g., antennas,amplifiers, including power amplifiers and low noise amplifiers, etc.)and/or logical processing components (e.g., physical (PHY) layers, mediaaccess control (MAC) layers, etc.) of a given wireless device, and thesecomponents may be configured to support multi-link communications. Suchparallel communications, while benefiting the system in terms ofthroughput, may increase the complexity of the system. For example,these communications may benefit from improved signaling to indicate acapability, configuration, or both, of one or both communicating devicesto participate in a multi-link session. Considerations for such controlsignaling are discussed below.

By way of example, a first wireless device (e.g., a STA or AP) mayprefer to aggregate communications with a second wireless device for atleast some duration of time. In various examples, this preference may bebased on one or more of a variety of factors (e.g., an amount of data tobe communicated, an availability of wireless resources, a power level ofat least one of the wireless devices). To initiate communications usinglink aggregation, the first wireless device may acquire aggregationcapability information of the second wireless device and compare theacquired aggregation capability information with its own capabilities.Examples of aggregation capability information that may be exchangedinclude a type of aggregation (e.g., flow-based aggregation orpacket-based aggregation), a RF spectrum for which aggregation may besupported, a maximum or preferred number of links that may be supportedat the same time, a duration of time for which aggregation may besupported, etc. Upon identifying a mutually supported aggregationscheme, the first and second wireless devices may exchange controlsignaling to setup (or configure), reconfigure, or tear down one or morelinks associated with the multi-link session in accordance withtechniques described below. In some cases, the wireless devices mayestablish a single link, exchange the supported capability information,then establish one or more additional links that are aggregated for themulti-link session.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of awireless communications system. Aspects of the disclosure are thendescribed with reference to process flow diagrams. Aspects of thedisclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference toapparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate tosignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration.

FIG. 1 illustrates a WLAN 100 (also known as a Wi-Fi network) configuredin accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The WLAN100 may include an AP 105 and multiple associated STAs 115, which mayrepresent devices such as wireless communication terminals, includingmobile stations, phones, personal digital assistant (PDAs), otherhandheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, tablet computers,laptops, display devices (e.g., TVs, computer monitors, etc.), printers,etc. The AP 105 and the associated stations 115 may represent a basicservice set (BSS) or an extended service set (ESS). The various STAs 115in the network are able to communicate with one another through the AP105. Also shown is a coverage area 110 of the AP 105, which mayrepresent a basic service area (BSA) of the WLAN 100. An extendednetwork station associated with the WLAN 100 may be connected to a wiredor wireless distribution system that may allow multiple APs 105 to beconnected in an ESS.

A STA 115 may be located in the intersection of more than one coveragearea 110 and may associate with more than one AP 105. A single AP 105and an associated set of STAs 115 may be referred to as a BSS. An ESS isa set of connected BSSs. A distribution system may be used to connectAPs 105 in an ESS. In some cases, the coverage area 110 of an AP 105 maybe divided into sectors. The WLAN 100 may include APs 105 of differenttypes (e.g., metropolitan area, home network, etc.), with varying andoverlapping coverage areas 110. Two STAs 115 may also communicatedirectly via a direct wireless link 125 regardless of whether both STAs115 are in the same coverage area 110. Examples of direct wireless links125 may include Wi-Fi Direct connections, Wi-Fi Tunneled Direct LinkSetup (TDLS) links, and other group connections. STAs 115 and APs 105may communicate according to the WLAN radio and baseband protocol forphysical and MAC layers from IEEE 802.11 and versions including, but notlimited to, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11a, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad,802.11ah, 802.11ax, 802.11az, 802.11ba, etc. In other implementations,peer-to-peer connections or ad hoc networks may be implemented withinWLAN 100. Devices in WLAN 100 may communicate over unlicensed spectrum,which may be a portion of spectrum that includes frequency bandstraditionally used by Wi-Fi technology, such as the 5 GHz band, the 2.4GHz band, the 60 GHz band, the 3.6 GHz band, and/or the 900 MHz band.The unlicensed spectrum may also include other frequency bands.

In some cases, a STA 115 (or an AP 105) may be detectable by a centralAP 105, but not by other STAs 115 in the coverage area 110 of thecentral AP 105. For example, one STA 115 may be at one end of thecoverage area 110 of the central AP 105 while another STA 115 may be atthe other end. Thus, both STAs 115 may communicate with the AP 105, butmay not receive the transmissions of the other. This may result incolliding transmissions for the two STAs 115 in a contention basedenvironment (e.g., carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA)/collisionavoidance (CA)) because the STAs 115 may not refrain from transmittingon top of each other. A STA 115 whose transmissions are notidentifiable, but that is within the same coverage area 110 may be knownas a hidden node. CSMA/CA may be supplemented by the exchange of arequest-to-send (RTS) packet transmitted by a sending STA 115 (or AP105) and a clear-to-send (CTS) packet transmitted by the receiving STA115 (or AP 105). This exchange may alert other devices within range ofthe sender and receiver not to transmit for the duration of the primarytransmission. Thus, RTS/CTS handshake may help mitigate a hidden nodeproblem.

In a system supporting multi-link aggregation (which may also bereferred to as multi-channel aggregation), some of the trafficassociated with a single STA 115 may be transmitted across multiple,parallel communication links 120 (which may also be referred to as“links” or “wireless links” herein). Multi-link aggregation may thusprovide a means to increase network capacity and maximize theutilization of available resources. In some cases, each communicationlink 120 for a given wireless device may be associated with a respectiveradio of the wireless device (e.g., where a radio comprisestransmit/receive chains, physical antennas, signal processingcomponents, etc.).

Multi-link aggregation may be implemented in a number of ways. As afirst example, the multi-link aggregation may be referred to aspacket-based. In packet-based aggregation, frames of a single trafficflow (e.g., all traffic associated with a given TID) may be sentconcurrently across multiple communication links 120 (e.g., on multiplechannels). In some cases, the multiple communication links 120 mayoperate in the same radio frequency (RF) spectrum band (e.g., each linkmay be in the 5 GHz band, and use channels in the 5 GHz band). In othercases, the multiple communication links 120 may be in different RFspectrum bands (e.g., one may be in the 2.4 GHz band while another is inthe 5 GHz band). Each link may be associated with a different PHY andlower MAC layer, which may perform link-specific operations such asCSMA. In such an implementation, management of the aggregation of theseparate communication links 120 may be performed at a higher MAC layer.The multi-link aggregation implemented at the lower MAC layers and PHYlayers may be transparent to the upper layers of the wireless device.Packet-based aggregation may in some cases provide improveduser-perceived throughput (UPT) and sum throughput (e.g., even for asingle traffic flow) relative to other aggregation architectures andnon-aggregated communications.

As another example, the multi-link aggregation may be referred to asflow-based. In flow-based aggregation, each traffic flow (e.g., alltraffic associated with a given TID) may be sent using one of multipleavailable communication links 120. As an example, a single STA 115 mayaccess a web browser while streaming a video in parallel. The trafficassociated with the web browser access may be communicated over a firstchannel of a first communication link 120 while the traffic associatedwith the video stream may be communicated over a second channel of asecond communication link 120 in parallel (e.g., at least some of thedata may be transmitted on the first channel concurrent with datatransmitted on the second channel). In some examples, the transmissionson the first communication link 120 and the second communication link120 may be synchronized. In other examples, the transmissions may beasynchronous. As described above, the channels may belong to the same RFband or to different RF bands. In the case of three communication links120 (or other number of communication links greater than two), all threecommunication links 120 may support operation over the same RF band. Inother cases, two communication links 120, but not the third, may supportoperation over the same RF band. Or, in still other cases each of thethree communication links 120 may support operation for a separate RFband. In some cases, flow-based aggregation may not use cross-linkpacket scheduling and reordering (e.g., which may be used to supportpacket-based aggregation). Alternatively, in the case of a single flow(e.g., in the case that the STA 115 simply attempts to access a webbrowser), aggregation gain may not be available. Each link may beassociated with a different PHY and lower MAC layer, which may performlink-specific operations such as CSMA. Traffic flows may be mapped tocommunication links 120 by a higher MAC layer, as described furtherbelow.

In other embodiments, a hybrid of flow-based and packet-basedaggregation may be employed. As an example, a device may employflow-based aggregation in situations in which multiple traffic flows arecreated and may employ packet-based aggregation in other situations. Thedecision to switch between multi-link aggregation techniques (e.g.,modes) may additionally or alternatively be based on other metrics(e.g., a time of day, traffic load within the network, battery power fora wireless device, etc.). It is to be understood that while aspects ofthe preceding are described in the context of a multi-link sessioninvolving two (or more) communication links 120, the described conceptsmay be extended to a multi-link session involving multiple directwireless links 125.

To support the described multi-link aggregation techniques, APs 105 andSTAs 115 may exchange supported aggregation capability information (e.g.supported aggregation type, supported frequency bands, etc.). In somecases, the exchange of information may occur via data, control, ormanagement frames. In some examples, the data, control, or managementframes may be a beacon signal, a probe request and response, anassociation request and response, dedicated action frames, an operatingmode indicator (OMI), etc. In other examples, other types of data,control, or management frames may be used. In some cases, an AP 105 maydesignate a given channel in a given band as an anchor link (e.g., thewireless link on which it transmits beacons and other control ormanagement frames), which may also be referred to as an anchor channel.In this case, the AP 105 may transmit beacons (e.g., which may containless information) on other channels or links for discovery purposes.Although described as being frequency-based, the anchor link couldadditionally or alternatively refer to a point in time (e.g., an AP 105may transmit its beacon at a certain time on one or more links).

In some examples, in multi-link aggregation, each link may use its owntransmit queue. In other examples, a common transmit queue may be used.In some examples, each link may have a unique TA and RA. In otherexamples, the TA and RA may be common across the multiple links used formulti-link aggregation. In some cases, one or more of a sequence number(SN), frame number (FN), and/or packet number (PN) may be common acrossthe communication links. Other items that may be common across linksinclude encryption keys, MAC packet data unit (MPDU) generation and/orencryption, aggregated MAC service data unit (AMSDU) constraints,fragment size, reordering, replay check, and/or de-fragmentationtechniques. In other examples, encryption keys may be per-link.

In various examples, block acknowledgements (BAs) may be sent inresponse to multi-link transmissions. A BA may refer to anacknowledgment (ACK) for multiple MPDUs sent together (e.g., an ACK fora block of MPDUs). Both the transmitting device (e.g., the devicerequesting the BA) and the receiving device (e.g., the devicetransmitting the BA) may maintain a sliding window (e.g., a BA window),and may have previously negotiated the size of the BA. For example, a BAsession may have a BA size of 64 MPDUs (e.g., other BA size examples mayinclude 256 MPDUs, 1024 MPDUs, etc.). In such cases, a transmittingdevice may transmit 64 MPDUs followed by a block acknowledgment request(BAR). In response to the BAR, the receiving device may, upon receptionof the 64 MPDUs and the BAR, transmit a BA to the transmitting device.The BA may indicate whether all 64 MPDUs were received correctly, whichMPDUs are missing, etc. In some cases, a BA may be used to indicate thelonger BA window, or a capability exchange or agreement defining thelarger BA window may also be sent. In other examples, a single SN may beused, but with multiple scorecards (e.g., one per channel or link), orwith a global scorecard as well as per-link scorecards. Multi-linkaggregation (e.g., flow-based and/or packet-based) may increase networkcapacity by efficiently allocating utilization of multiple links (andmultiple channels).

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a WLAN 200 that supports signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. In some examples, WLAN 200 may implement aspectsof WLAN 100. A wireless connection between AP 105-a and STA 115-a may bereferred to as a link 205 or a communication link, and each link mayinclude one or more channels. As an example, WLAN 200 may supportmulti-link aggregation such that AP 105-a and STA 115-a may communicatein parallel over two or more links (e.g., link 205-a and link 205-b).STA 115-a may thus receive packets (e.g., MPDUs) over both link 205-aand link 205-b from AP 105-a. Such parallel communications 210-a and210-b over the two or more links may be synchronized (e.g.,simultaneous) or unsynchronized (e.g., asynchronous), and may be uplink,or downlink, or a combination of uplink and downlink during a particularduration of time. As described above, the parallel communications 210-aand 210-b over the two or more links may occur between two STAs 115(e.g., which may be referred to as sidelink communication) withoutdeviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

Such multi-link aggregation may provide multiple benefits to WLAN 200.For example, multi-link aggregation may improve UPT. For example,per-user transmit queues may be more quickly drained or flushed. In someexamples, the transmit queue may be more quickly drained of packetswhere multiple links are available to transmit each packet. For example,where communications on one link is delayed, for example because oftemporary interference, packets may continue to be transmitted over asecond link (or a third link, or fourth link, etc.). That is, multi-linkaggregation may reduce latency of communications by providing moreopportunities to transmit packets. Similarly, multi-link aggregation mayimprove throughput for WLAN 200 by improving utilization of availablechannels (e.g., by increasing trunking gains). That is, multi-linkaggregation may increase spectral utilization, and may increase thebandwidth-time product. Networks that do not support multi-linkaggregation may experience under-utilization of spectrum in non-uniform(e.g., bursty) traffic conditions.

Further, multi-link aggregation may enable smooth transitions betweenmulti-band radios (e.g., where each radio may be associated with a givenRF band) and/or enable a framework to setup separation of controlchannels and data channels. Other benefits of multi-link aggregationinclude reducing the ON time of a modem, which may benefit a wirelessdevice in terms of power consumption, though the final power-savinggains may in some cases depend on other factors including processingrequirements, RF bandwidth, etc. Multi-link aggregation additionallyincreases multiplexing opportunities in the case of a single BSS. Thatis, multi-link aggregation may increase the number of users permultiplexed transmission served by the multi-link AP 105-a.

However, multi-link aggregation may also have implementation challenges.Techniques for communicating control information for a multi-linksession are discussed in detail below. In some cases, multi-linkaggregation may be supported (including initiated) through signalingbetween STA 115-a and AP 105-a (or a peer STA 115). As an example, STA115-a may indicate to AP 105-a (or the peer STA 115) whether it supportsmulti-link aggregation. For example, STA 115-a may indicate that itsupports multi-link aggregation in general, for a particular RF spectrumband, for a link 205 of a given RF spectrum band, etc. Such signalingcould be static (e.g., in the form of data, control, or managementframes such as beacons, probes, association or reassociation frames,etc.), semi-static, or dynamic (e.g., via OMI or other similaroperational parameters). In some cases, AP 105-a (e.g., or the peer STA115) may decide whether to aggregate communications with STA 115-a basedat least in part on the capabilities advertised by STA 115-a.

In some cases, AP 105-a may designate a given channel as an anchor link(e.g., the channel on which it transmits control information). Thiscontrol information may be included in data, control, or managementframes such as beacons, probe responses, association responses, controlfields, etc. In some examples, AP 105-a may transmit varying amounts ofcontrol information on different channels (e.g., for discoverypurposes). Examples of aggregation capability information which may beincluded in such control information are described below. In someexamples, the aggregation capability information of a given device(e.g., STA 115-a or AP 105-a) may be solicited (e.g., via a proberequest, an association request, a dedicated action frame, another dataframe, control frame, or management frame, etc.) by another device toidentify potential aggregation options.

Additionally or alternatively, the signaling used to support multi-linkaggregation may include an indication of whether the wireless device(e.g., STA 115-a) supports parallel reception and transmission. Forexample, STA 115-a may advertise this capability (e.g., via a capabilityfield) in its data, control, or management frames (e.g., beacons,probes, association or reassociation frames, etc.) as with the staticsignaling discussed above. Additionally or alternatively, the STA 115-amay indicate the capability dynamically (e.g., may explicitly signal inongoing transmissions that it can support parallel reception andtransmission, may solicit immediate BA response only if it can supportparallel transmission and reception, etc.)

In some examples, the aggregation capability information includes asupported MAC aggregation type (e.g., MAC-level packet-based, MAC-levelflow-based, internet protocol (IP)-level packet-based, transport-levelbased, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)-level based, any combinationthereof, etc.). In some cases (e.g., for packet or flow-basedaggregation), the aggregation capability information includesinformation specific to one or more TIDs, flows, or frame types. By wayof example, the aggregation capability information may includeidentifiers of specific links 205 to be aggregated (e.g., where the linkidentifier may be in the form of a channel number, a BSS identifier(BSSID), a per-link TA, a per-link RA, any combination or subsetthereof, etc.). The aggregation capability information may additionallyor alternatively include one or more of a supported reordering queuesize for the receiver (e.g., STA 115-a), a supported BA bitmap size(e.g., 1024 bits), or an indication of support for fragmentation. In thecase that fragmentation is supported, the information may include amaximum number of concurrently fragmented MSDUs, a supported minimumfragment size, a supported maximum fragment size, an indication of asupport for AMSDU fragmentation, any combination thereof, etc.

In a first example, all TIDs (e.g., or flow IDs, or frame types) may beaggregated over link 205-a and link 205-b. This may be an example ofpacket-based aggregation. That is, parallel communications 210-a and210-b may each have at least one packet having a common TID. In thisexample, aggregation setup, reconfiguration, and tear down may beinitiated by a request and response exchange (e.g., as described withreference to FIG. 4). For example, the request and response exchange maynegotiate an aggregation type within types supported by both sides(e.g., which may be determined based on the exchange of aggregationcapability information discussed above and described in detail withreference to FIG. 3). Additionally or alternatively, the request andresponse exchange may negotiate common TA and RA across links 205-a and205-b (e.g., if the selected aggregation type uses a common BA sessionfor communications sent across both links 205-a and 205-b). In somecases, the aggregated links (e.g., links 205-a and 205-b) may be allavailable links between AP 105-a and STA 115-a (e.g., or they may be asubset of the available links). In this example, aggregation may bereconfigured (e.g., or torn down) for all TIDs via message exchange. Forexample, an ACK frame may be used to respond to a request to reconfigurethe link. In some examples, the exchange may be on a designated link205. Additionally or alternatively, the exchange may be via dedicateddata frames, control frames, or management frames, via high efficiency(HE) control fields (e.g., in a new field of an OMI HE transmission), orvia another control field in a data frame, a control frame, or amanagement frame.

In another example of packet-based aggregation, a set of TIDs may beaggregated over a particular set of links. In such examples, aggregationmay be torn down (e.g., or reconfigured) for a set of TIDs (e.g., orflows or frame types). For example, broadcast flows, multicast flows,control information, etc., may be aggregated over links closable by allreceiving STAs 115 (e.g., one or more 900 MHz links) while other flows(e.g., unicast data) may be aggregated over other links which may have ahigher path loss (e.g., one or more 5 GHz links). In examples in which agiven set of TIDs are associated with a particular set of links, linksetup, reconfiguration, and teardown requests may indicate the relevantset of TIDs and/or link IDs. For example, the TID set may be indicatedby explicit TID types or may be pre-defined and indicated with acorresponding set index. As an example, TIDs corresponding to aparticular access category (AC) or a group of access categories may beindicated by the AC group index. For example, a given AC group mayinclude AC voice and AC video, etc. In other examples, flow IDscorresponding to a given traffic type (e.g., broadcast traffic) or frametypes corresponding to BA and BAR frames may be explicitly indicated inthe requests. In some cases, the request may include link IDs for thelinks 205 to be aggregated. For example, a link 205 may be identified bya channel number, a BSSID, a per-link TA, a per-link RA, any combinationthereof, etc.

In some cases (e.g., for flow-based aggregation), a wireless device mayrequest to setup, reconfigure, or tear down a set of links associatedwith a set of TIDs (e.g., or flow IDs or frame types). For example, iflink 205-a supports a first set of TIDs and the link 205-a suddenlysuffers from quality degradation, STA 115-a or AP 105-a may identifylink 205-a for reconfiguration. As discussed in some examples above, theaggregation setup, reconfiguration, and teardown may be initiated by arequest and response exchange. For example, the request may include theTIDs (e.g., or flow IDs or frame types) and corresponding link IDs. Insome examples, the exchange may be on a designated link 205.Additionally or alternatively, the exchange may be via dedicated dataframes, control frames, or management frames, via HE control fields(e.g., in a new field of an OMI HE control transmission), or via anothercontrol field in a data frame, a control frame, or a management frame.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process flow 300 that supports signaling for linkaggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. Process flow 300 may implement aspects of WLAN 100.For example, process flow 300 includes wireless device 305-a andwireless device 305-b, each of which may be an example of a STA 115 oran AP 105 as described with reference to WLAN 100.

At 310, wireless device 305-a may identify its current aggregationcapability. For example, the aggregation capability may in some cases bedynamically or semi-statically determined (e.g., based on a power level,communication load, interference metrics, location, etc.).Alternatively, the aggregation capability may in some cases bepreconfigured, in which case wireless device 305-a may still be said toidentify its current aggregation capability. Examples of aggregationcapability information include RF spectrum band(s) over whichaggregation is supported, a maximum number of supported aggregatedlinks, an aggregation type (e.g., packet-based or flow-based), aduration of time for which wireless device 305-a is willing to aggregatecommunications, etc.

At 315, wireless device 305-a may optionally transmit an aggregationcapability request to one or more neighboring wireless devices 305-b.For example, wireless device 305-a may be a STA 115 inquiring aboutaggregation capabilities of nearby APs 105 (e.g., or other STAs 115).Alternatively, wireless device 305-a may be an AP 105 inquiring about anaggregation capability of a STA 115. Examples of aggregation capabilityrequests may include data frames, control frames, or management framessuch as probe requests, association requests, dedicated action frames,control fields (e.g., HE control fields) in frames, a control field in adata frame, a control field in a management frame, etc. In some cases,the aggregation capability request may include a duration of time forwhich wireless device 305-a wants to participate in aggregatedcommunications (e.g., in a multi-link session). That is, wireless device305-a may in some cases include its own aggregation capabilityinformation in a request for aggregation capability information ofwireless device 305-b.

At 320, wireless device 305-b may transmit its own aggregationcapability information. In some cases, this transmission may be inresponse to receiving the aggregation capability request at 315.Examples of such transmissions include data frames, control frames, ormanagement frames such as probe responses, association responses,dedicated action frames, HE control fields, a control field in a dataframe, a control field in a management frame, etc. Alternatively,wireless device 305-b may in some cases transmit its aggregationcapability independently of receiving an aggregation capability request(e.g., wireless device 305-b may advertise its aggregationcapabilities). For example, wireless device 305-b may identify its ownaggregation capability (e.g., analogously to 310 as discussed withreference to wireless device 305-a) and may broadcast this information(e.g., via a beacon). Examples of aggregation capability informationinclude an aggregation type (e.g., packet-based), link identificationinformation (e.g., a TA, RA, TID, etc.), a receive queue size, a BAbitmap size, an indication of fragmentation support, or a combination ofthese. In some cases, the aggregation capability information mayindicate a duration for which that wireless device 305-b is willing toaggregate communications.

At 325, wireless device 305-a and wireless device 305-b may establish amulti-link session. In some cases, a first wireless link of themulti-link session may be in a first RF spectrum band having a firstpath loss value (e.g., a 2.4 GHz spectrum band), and a second wirelesslink of the multi-link session may be in a second RF spectrum bandhaving a second path loss value that is greater than the first path lossvalue (e.g., a 5 GHz spectrum band, or a 60 GHz spectrum band).Alternatively, the first and second wireless links may in some cases belocated in a same RF band. In some examples, at least one link of themulti-link session may include a channel in a shared RF spectrum band.During the multi-link session, a first set of packets may be sent via afirst wireless link and a second set of packets may be sent via a secondwireless link. For example, the first set of packets and the second setof packets (e.g., or some subset thereof) may be associated with a sameTID (e.g., in the case of packet-based aggregation). Additionally oralternatively, the first set of packets may be associated with a firstTID and the second set of packets may be associated with a second TID(e.g., in the case of flow-based aggregation).

In some cases, wireless device 305-a (e.g., or wireless device 305-b)may identify a transmission type for a set of packets to be transmitted,where the transmission type includes one of broadcast, multicast, orunicast, and determine a wireless link for the packets based on thetransmission type. Similarly, wireless device 305-a may allocate dataframes to a first wireless link and management (e.g., or control) framesto a second wireless link. That is, wireless device 305-a (e.g., orwireless device 305-b) may identify a frame type for a set of packets tobe transmitted, where the frame type comprises data, control, ormanagement, and transmit the set of packets over a given wireless linkaccording to the identified frame type. By way of example, broadcastflows, multicast flows, and/or control frames may be aggregated overlinks closable by all receiving devices (e.g., 2.4 GHz and 900 MHzlinks).

FIG. 4 illustrates a process flow 400 that supports signaling for linkaggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. Process flow 400 may implement aspects of WLAN 100.For example, process flow 400 includes wireless device 405-a andwireless device 405-b, each of which may be an example of a STA 115 oran AP 105 as described with reference to WLAN 100.

Prior to 410, wireless device 405-a and wireless device 405-b may haveestablished a multi-link session (e.g., using techniques described withreference to FIG. 3). In various examples described below, each ofwireless device 405-a and wireless device 405-b may be an example ofeither of wireless devices 305-a and 305-b. For example, in some caseswireless device 405-a may be an example of wireless device 305-a (e.g.,the device that initiates the exchange of the aggregation capabilityinformation with an aggregation capability request) and wireless device405-b may be an example of wireless device 305-b. Additionally oralternatively, wireless device 405-a may be an example of wirelessdevice 305-b, and wireless device 405-b may be an example of wirelessdevice 305-a. Thus, different permutations may be realized whencombining the operations of process flows 300 and 400 without deviatingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

At 410, wireless device 405-a may optionally transmit a request forconfiguration information (e.g., or reconfiguration information) ofwireless device 405-b. That is, the link aggregation setup may beinitiated by a request. In some cases, the request may initiatenegotiation of an aggregation type within aggregation types supported byboth wireless device 405-a and wireless device 405-b. Additionally oralternatively, the request may initiate negotiation of a common TAand/or RA (e.g., if the aggregation type uses a common BA session acrossall links), etc.

At 415, wireless device 405-b may transmit configuration information(e.g., in response to the received configuration request). Thisrequest/response exchange may in some cases be an example of theexchanges described above with reference to FIG. 2. For example, therequest and response may indicate a TID, a flow identifier, a frametype, a link identifier, any combination thereof, etc., associated witha given wireless link of the multi-link session.

At 420, wireless device 405-a may modify (e.g., tear down, reconfigure,etc.) one of more of the plurality of wireless links based at least inpart on the request and response exchange (e.g., at 410 and 415).Wireless device 405-a may also configure a new wireless link. At 425,wireless device 405-b may similarly modify (e.g., configure or set up,tear down, reconfigure, etc.) one of more of the plurality of wirelesslinks based at least in part on the request and response exchange (e.g.,at 410 and 415). At 430, wireless device 405-a and wireless device 405-bmay communicate using one or more of the modified links.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process flow 500 that supports signaling for linkaggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. Process flow 500 may implement aspects of WLAN 100.For example, process flow 500 includes wireless device 505-a andwireless device 505-b, each of which may be an example of a STA 115 oran AP 105 as described with reference to WLAN 100.

In various examples described below, each of wireless device 505-a andwireless device 505-b may be an example of either of wireless devices305-a and 305-b as well as either of wireless devices 405-a and 405-b.For example, in some cases wireless device 505-a may be an example ofwireless device 305-a (e.g., the device that initiates the exchange ofthe aggregation capability information with an aggregation capabilityrequest) and wireless device 505-b may be an example of wireless device305-b. Additionally or alternatively, wireless device 505-a may be anexample of wireless device 305-b, and wireless device 505-b may be anexample of wireless device 305-a. Thus, multiple permutations may berealized when combining the operations of process flows 300, 400, and500 without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

At 510, wireless device 505-a may identify a TID (e.g., or flow ID orlink ID or frame type) associated with one or more links that are to besetup or reconfigured. Examples include broadcast flows, multicastflows, unicast flows, control frames, data frames, management frames,TIDs corresponding to a particular AC or group of ACs, or anycombination thereof.

At 515, wireless device 505-a may transmit a configuration request toinitiate setup or reconfiguration of one or more wireless links for theTID identified at 510. At 520, wireless device 505-b may respond with aconfiguration response (e.g., which may in some cases be an ACK).Accordingly, at 525, wireless device 505-a may modify (e.g., tear down,reconfigure, etc.) an existing wireless link of the one or more wirelesslinks, or configure (e.g., set up) a new wireless link to add to the oneor more wireless links. At 530, wireless device 505-b may modify (e.g.,tear down, reconfigure, etc.) the one or more wireless links, and mayconfigure a new wireless link. Wireless device 505-a and wireless device505-b may then exchange data during the multi-link session at 535. Invarious examples, the configuration request transmitted at 515 mayindicate the set of TIDs, flow IDs, frame types, link IDs, etc. to beaggregated. For example, the indication may be explicit (e.g., mayinclude a set of bits indicating specific TIDs) and/or may be based onreference (e.g., using a set of bits) to a look-up table or some otherpre-defined (e.g., or configurable) index set. In cases in which theconfiguration request includes link IDs, the link ID may include achannel number, a BSSID, a per-link TA and/or RA, or a combinationthereof.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example layer configuration 600 that supportssignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. Layer configuration 600 mayapply to a STA 115 or an AP 105 (including wireless device 405 orwireless device 505), and be for a transmitting wireless device or areceiving wireless device. It is to be understood that aspects of layerconfiguration 600 may represent logical constructs (e.g., such thatcomponents of layer configuration 600 may share hardware components). Awireless device 655 may support layer configuration 600 through the useof various hardware configurations described herein.

As illustrated, layer configuration 600 may include upper layers 605, aMAC layer 610, and one or more PHY layers 635 (e.g., where each PHYlayer 635 may in some cases be associated with a respective link orchannel). MAC layer 610 may be further divided into upper MAC layer 615and lower MAC layer 625-a, lower MAC layer 625-b, and lower MAC layer625-c. While three lower MAC layers 625 are illustrated, it is to beunderstood that upper MAC layer 615 may control (e.g., via multi-linkaggregation controller 620) any suitable number of lower MAC layers 625.Signaling between a given lower MAC (e.g., lower MAC layer 625-a) andupper MAC layer 615 may be carried by connection 645. Similarly,signaling between lower MAC layer 625-a and PHY layer 635-a may becarried by connection 650 and signaling between lower MAC layer 625-aand lower MAC layer 625-b may be carried by connection 640. As describedbelow, the signaling for lower MAC 625-a, lower MAC layer 625-b, andlower MAC layer 625-c may be based on logic associated with respectivecontroller 630-a, controller 630-b, and controller 630-c.

With reference to FIG. 2, lower MAC layer 625-a may be associated, forexample, with link 205-a (e.g., via PHY layer 635-a) and lower MAC layer625-b may be associated, for example, with link 205-b (e.g., via PHYlayer 635-b). That is, each link 205 may have an associated lower MAClayer 625 that performs link-specific features (e.g., channel access, ULtriggered transmission procedures, multiple input, multiple output(MIMO) signaling, etc.) For example, lower MAC layer 625-a and lower MAClayer 625-b may independently perform enhanced distributed channelaccess (EDCA) countdowns on respective links 205-a and 205-b.Additionally or alternatively, lower MAC layers 625 may perform RTS/CTSprocedures, perform clear channel assessment (CCA) procedures, apply amodulation and coding scheme (MCS), control a physical packet data unit(PPDU) duration, transmit sounding reference signals, etc.

Upper MAC layer 615 may provide a single-link interface to upper layers605. For example, upper MAC layer 615 may perform management andsecurity-related operations. Such a design may allow a single beaconfrom an AP 105 on a primary band to control multi-band STAs 115.Additionally or alternatively, the single upper MAC layer 615 may allowfor a single association procedure to initiate the multi-link session.For example, an association procedure may be performed using a singlelink, but provide for capability information for multiple links, whichmay include the link that is being used for the association procedure.In some cases, the upper MAC layer 615 may provide signaling (e.g., OMIsignaling) that allows for dynamic bandwidth control (e.g., expansion).The upper MAC layer 615 may additionally or alternatively provide asingle BA space (e.g., a single BA scoreboard and sequence space) suchthat MPDUs may be scheduled dynamically on a per-PPDU basis for eachlink (e.g., such that a given MPDU may be retransmitted on a differentlink from that on which it was originally transmitted).

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a wireless device 705 that supportssignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 705 may be anexample of aspects of a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wirelessdevices (e.g., wireless device 305) as described herein. Wireless device705 may include receiver 710, communications manager 715, andtransmitter 720. Wireless device 705 may also include a processor. Eachof these components may be in communication with one another (e.g., viaone or more buses).

Receiver 710 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to signalingfor link aggregation setup and reconfiguration, etc.). Information maybe passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 710 may bean example of aspects of the transceiver 1035 described with referenceto FIG. 10. The receiver 710 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

Communications manager 715 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1015 described with reference to FIG. 10.Communications manager 715 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be implemented in hardware, software executed by aprocessor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware executed by a processor, the functions of the communicationsmanager 715 and/or at least some of its various sub-components may beexecuted by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), anfield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described in thepresent disclosure.

The communications manager 715 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be physically located at various positions, includingbeing distributed such that portions of functions are implemented atdifferent physical locations by one or more physical devices. In someexamples, communications manager 715 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be a separate and distinct component in accordancewith various aspects of the present disclosure. In other examples,communications manager 715 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be combined with one or more other hardwarecomponents, including but not limited to an I/O component, atransceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or moreother components described in the present disclosure, or a combinationthereof in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Communications manager 715 may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a set of wireless links. Communicationsmanager 715 may receive second aggregation capability information fromthe second wireless device, the second aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the second wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over the set of wireless links. Communicationsmanager 715 may establish the multi-link session between the firstwireless device and the second wireless device based on the identifiedfirst aggregation capability information and the received secondaggregation capability information.

Transmitter 720 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 720 may be collocated witha receiver 710 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 720may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1035 described withreference to FIG. 10. The transmitter 720 may utilize a single antennaor a set of antennas.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a wireless device 805 that supportssignaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 805 may be anexample of aspects of a wireless device 705 or a STA 115, an AP 105, orany of the wireless devices (e.g., wireless device 305) as describedwith reference to FIG. 7. Wireless device 805 may include receiver 810,communications manager 815, and transmitter 820. Wireless device 805 mayalso include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to signalingfor link aggregation setup and reconfiguration, etc.). Information maybe passed on to other components of the device. The receiver 810 may bean example of aspects of the transceiver 1035 described with referenceto FIG. 10. The receiver 810 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

Communications manager 815 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1015 described with reference to FIG. 10.Communications manager 815 may also include aggregation capabilityidentifier 825, aggregation capability manager 830, and multi-linksession manager 835.

Aggregation capability identifier 825 may identify first aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the first wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over a set of wireless links.Aggregation capability identifier 825 may receive a request for thefirst aggregation capability information from the second wirelessdevice. Aggregation capability identifier 825 may transmit, to thesecond wireless device in response to the received request, the firstaggregation capability information of the first wireless device.Aggregation capability identifier 825 may in some cases advertise (e.g.,broadcast) the first aggregation capability information of the firstwireless device.

In some cases, the first aggregation capability information includes anindication of a duration for which the first wireless device is willingto communicate in parallel over the set of wireless links. In somecases, receiving the request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation includes receiving a field in a data frame, a managementframe, or a control frame such as a probe request, or an associationrequest, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field carried in acontrol frame, management frame, or data frame, or a combinationthereof. In some cases, the second aggregation capability information isreceived with the received request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation. In some cases, the first aggregation capabilityinformation, or the second aggregation capability information, or bothinclude an aggregation type, or link identification information, or areceive queue size, or a block acknowledgement bitmap size, or anindication of fragmentation support, or a combination thereof.

Aggregation capability manager 830 may receive second aggregationcapability information from the second wireless device, the secondaggregation capability information indicating a capability of the secondwireless device to communicate in parallel over the set of wirelesslinks. Aggregation capability manager 830 may in some cases transmit arequest for the second aggregation capability information of the secondwireless device, where the second aggregation capability information isreceived from the second wireless device based on the transmittedrequest. In some cases, receiving the second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device includes receiving a controlframe, a data frame, or a management frame such as a beacon, or a proberesponse, or an association response, or a dedicated action frame, or acontrol field, or a control field in a data frame, or a control field ina control frame, or a control field in a management frame, or a controlfield in a data frame, or a combination thereof that includes the secondaggregation capability information.

Multi-link session manager 835 may establish the multi-link sessionbetween the first wireless device and the second wireless device basedon the identified first aggregation capability information and thereceived second aggregation capability information. In some cases, atleast one of the set of wireless links includes a channel in a sharedradio frequency spectrum band. In some cases, a first wireless link ofthe set of wireless links is in a first radio frequency spectrum bandhaving a first path loss value. In some cases, a second wireless link ofthe set of wireless links is in a second radio frequency spectrum bandhaving a second path loss value that is greater than the first path lossvalue.

Transmitter 820 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 820 may be collocated witha receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 820may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1035 described withreference to FIG. 10. The transmitter 820 may utilize a single antennaor a set of antennas.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a communications manager 915 thatsupports signaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communicationsmanager 915 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager715, a communications manager 815, or a communications manager 1015described with reference to FIGS. 7, 8, and 10. The communicationsmanager 915 may include aggregation capability identifier 920,aggregation capability manager 925, multi-link session manager 930,multi-link configuration manager 935, multi-link reconfigurationcomponent 940, and packet controller 945. Each of these modules maycommunicate, directly or indirectly, with one another (e.g., via one ormore buses).

Aggregation capability identifier 920 may identify first aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the first wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over a set of wireless links. In somecases, aggregation capability identifier 920 may receive a request forthe first aggregation capability information from the second wirelessdevice. Aggregation capability identifier 920 may transmit, to thesecond wireless device in response to the received request, the firstaggregation capability information of the first wireless device.Aggregation capability identifier 920 may advertise the firstaggregation capability information of the first wireless device. In somecases, the first aggregation capability information includes anindication of a duration for which the first wireless device is willingto communicate in parallel over the set of wireless links. In somecases, receiving the request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation includes receiving a field in a data frame, a managementframe, or a control frame such as a probe request, or an associationrequest, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field carried in acontrol frame, or a control field in a management frame, or a controlfield in a control frame, or a combination thereof. In some cases, thesecond aggregation capability information is received with the receivedrequest for the first aggregation capability information. In some cases,the first aggregation capability information, or the second aggregationcapability information, or both include an aggregation type, or linkidentification information, or a receive queue size, or a blockacknowledgement bitmap size, or an indication of fragmentation support,or a combination thereof.

Aggregation capability manager 925 may receive second aggregationcapability information from the second wireless device, the secondaggregation capability information indicating a capability of the secondwireless device to communicate in parallel over the set of wirelesslinks. Aggregation capability manager 925 may transmit a request for thesecond aggregation capability information of the second wireless device,where the second aggregation capability information is received from thesecond wireless device based on the transmitted request. In some cases,receiving the second aggregation capability information from the secondwireless device includes receiving a control frame, a data frame, or amanagement frame such as a beacon, or a probe response, or anassociation response, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field,or a control field in a data frame, or a control field in a managementframe, or a combination thereof that includes the second aggregationcapability information.

Multi-link session manager 930 may establish the multi-link sessionbetween the first wireless device and the second wireless device basedon the identified first aggregation capability information and thereceived second aggregation capability information. In some cases, atleast one of the set of wireless links includes a channel in a sharedradio frequency spectrum band. In some cases, a first wireless link ofthe set of wireless links is in a first radio frequency spectrum bandhaving a first path loss value. In some cases, a second wireless link ofthe set of wireless links is in a second radio frequency spectrum bandhaving a second path loss value that is greater than the first path lossvalue.

Multi-link configuration manager 935 may transmit a request forconfiguration information of the second wireless device for themulti-link session. Multi-link configuration manager 935 may receive theconfiguration information from the second wireless device in response tothe transmitted request. Multi-link configuration manager 935 mayreceive, from the second wireless device, a request for configurationinformation of the first wireless device for the multi-link session.Multi-link configuration manager 935 may transmit the configurationinformation of the first wireless device to the second wireless devicein response to the received request. Multi-link configuration manager935 may modify one or more of the set of wireless links based on theconfiguration information of the first wireless device and configurationinformation received from the second wireless device for the multi-linksession.

Multi-link reconfiguration component 940 may transmit a reconfigurationrequest for the multi-link session to the second wireless device.Multi-link reconfiguration component 940 may receive, from the secondwireless device, a response to the reconfiguration request including anindication of at least one reconfigured wireless link of the set ofwireless links. Multi-link reconfiguration component 940 may communicatewith the second wireless device based on the received response to thereconfiguration request. In some cases, the reconfiguration requestincludes a traffic identifier, or a flow identifier, or a frame type, ora combination thereof associated with a wireless link of the set ofwireless links. In some cases, the reconfiguration request furtherincludes a link identifier associated with the wireless link.

Packet controller 945 may transmit a first set of packets to the secondwireless device via a first wireless link of the set of wireless links,the first set of packets associated with a first traffic identifier.Packet controller 945 may transmit a second set of packets to the secondwireless device via a second wireless link of the set of wireless links,the second set of packets associated with the first traffic identifier.Packet controller 945 may transmit a second set of packets to the secondwireless device via a second wireless link of the set of wireless links,the second set of packets associated with a second traffic identifier.Packet controller 945 may identify a transmission type for a set ofpackets to be transmitted to the second wireless device, thetransmission type including broadcast, multicast, or unicast. Packetcontroller 945 may transmit the set of packets over a first wirelesslink of the set of wireless links based on identifying the transmissiontype for the set of packets as broadcast, or multicast, or a combinationthereof. Packet controller 945 may transmit the set of packets over asecond wireless link of the set of wireless links based on identifyingthe transmission type for the set of packets as unicast. Packetcontroller 945 may identify a frame type for a set of packets to betransmitted to the second wireless device, the frame type includingdata, control, or management. Packet controller 945 may transmit the setof packets over a first wireless link of the set of wireless links basedon identifying the frame type for the set of packets as data or transmitthe set of packets over a second wireless link of the set of wirelesslinks based on identifying the frame type for the set of packets ascontrol, or management, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a system 1000 including a device 1005 thatsupports signaling for link aggregation setup and reconfiguration inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Device 1005 may be anexample of or include the components of wireless device 705, wirelessdevice 805, or a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices(e.g., wireless device 305) as described above, e.g., with reference toFIGS. 7 and 8. Device 1005 may include components for bi-directionalvoice and data communications including components for transmitting andreceiving communications, including communications manager 1015,processor 1020, memory 1025, software 1030, transceiver 1035, antenna1040, and I/O controller 1045. These components may be in electroniccommunication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1010).

Processor 1020 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), amicrocontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, adiscrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardwarecomponent, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1020may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller.In other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into processor1020. Processor 1020 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory to perform various functions (e.g.,functions or tasks supporting signaling for link aggregation setup andreconfiguration).

Memory 1025 may include random access memory (RAM) and read only memory(ROM). The memory 1025 may store computer-readable, computer-executablesoftware 1030 including instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases,the memory 1025 may contain, among other things, a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) which may control basic hardware or software operationsuch as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

Software 1030 may include code to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure, including code to support signaling for link aggregationsetup and reconfiguration. Software 1030 may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory or othermemory. In some cases, the software 1030 may not be directly executableby the processor but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

Transceiver 1035 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1035 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1035 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas. In some cases, thewireless device may include a single antenna 1040. However, in somecases the device may have more than one antenna 1040, which may becapable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiple wirelesstransmissions.

I/O controller 1045 may manage input and output signals for device 1005.I/O controller 1045 may also manage peripherals not integrated intodevice 1005. In some cases, I/O controller 1045 may represent a physicalconnection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, I/Ocontroller 1045 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®,MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, or another known operatingsystem. In other cases, I/O controller 1045 may represent or interactwith a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device.In some cases, I/O controller 1045 may be implemented as part of aprocessor. In some cases, a user may interact with device 1005 via I/Ocontroller 1045 or via hardware components controlled by I/O controller1045.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1100 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1100 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1100 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, aSTA 115 or an AP 105 may execute a set of codes to control thefunctional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the STA 115 or AP 105 may performaspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1105 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1105 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1105 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1110 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1110 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1110may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1115 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1115 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1115 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1200 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1200 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1200 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1205 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1205 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1210 the wireless device may transmit a request for the secondaggregation capability information of the second wireless device,wherein the second aggregation capability information is received fromthe second wireless device based at least in part on the transmittedrequest. The operations of 1210 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1210 may be performed by an aggregation capability manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1215 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1215 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1215may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1220 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1220 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1220 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1300 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1300 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1300 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1305 the wireless device may receive a request for the firstaggregation capability information from the second wireless device. Insome cases, receiving the request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation includes receiving a field in a data frame, a managementframe, or a control frame such as a probe request, or an associationrequest, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field carried in acontrol frame, or a control field carried in a data frame, or a controlfield carried in a management frame, or a combination thereof. Theoperations of 1305 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1310 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. The firstaggregation capability information may include an indication of aduration of time for which the first wireless device is willing tocommunicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1310 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1315 the wireless device may transmit, to the second wireless devicein response to the received request, the first aggregation capabilityinformation of the first wireless device. The operations of 1315 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 1315 may be performed by anaggregation capability identifier as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1320 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.In some cases, receiving the second aggregation capability informationincludes receiving a control frame, a data frame, or a management framesuch as a beacon, or a probe response, or an association response, or adedicated action frame, or a control field, or a control field in a dataframe, or a control field in a management frame, or a combinationthereof. In some cases, the second aggregation capability information isreceived with the received request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation. The operations of 1320 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1320 may be performed by an aggregation capability manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1325 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1325 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1325 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1400 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1400 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1405 the wireless device may advertise (e.g., broadcast) the firstaggregation capability information of the first wireless device. Theoperations of 1405 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1410 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1410 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1415 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1415 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1415may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1420 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1420 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1420 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1500 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1500 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1505 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1505 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1510 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1510 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1510may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1515 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1520 the wireless device may transmit a request for configurationinformation of the second wireless device for the multi-link session.The operations of 1520 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1520may be performed by a multi-link configuration manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1525 the wireless device may receive the configuration informationfrom the second wireless device in response to the transmitted request.The operations of 1525 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1525may be performed by a multi-link configuration manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1530 the wireless device may modify one or more of the plurality ofwireless links based at least in part on configuration information ofthe first wireless device for the multi-link session and theconfiguration information received from the second wireless device. Theoperations of 1530 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1530 may beperformed by a multi-link configuration manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1600 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1600 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1605 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1605 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1610 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1610 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1610may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1615 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1615 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1615 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1620 the wireless device may receive, from the second wirelessdevice, a request for configuration information of the first wirelessdevice for the multi-link session. The operations of 1620 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 1620 may be performed by amulti-link configuration manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1625 the wireless device may transmit the configuration informationof the first wireless device to the second wireless device in responseto the received request. The operations of 1625 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspectsof the operations of 1625 may be performed by a multi-link configurationmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1630 the wireless device may modify one or more of the plurality ofwireless links based at least in part on the configuration informationof the first wireless device and configuration information received fromthe second wireless device for the multi-link session. The operations of1630 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1630 may be performed bya multi-link configuration manager as described with reference to FIGS.7 through 10.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1700 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1700 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1705 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1705 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1705 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1710 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1710 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1710may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1715 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1715 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1715 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1720 the wireless device may transmit a reconfiguration request forthe multi-link session to the second wireless device. In some cases, thereconfiguration request includes a TID, or a flow identifier, or a frametype, or a combination thereof associated with a wireless link of theplurality of wireless links. In some cases, the reconfiguration requestfurther comprises a link identifier associated with the wireless link.The operations of 1720 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1720may be performed by a multi-link reconfiguration component as describedwith reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1725 the wireless device may receive, from the second wirelessdevice, a response to the reconfiguration request comprising anindication of at least one reconfigured wireless link of the pluralityof wireless links. The operations of 1725 may be performed according tothe methods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of theoperations of 1725 may be performed by a multi-link reconfigurationcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1730 the wireless device may communicate with the second wirelessdevice based at least in part on the received response to thereconfiguration request. The operations of 1730 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspectsof the operations of 1730 may be performed by a multi-linkreconfiguration component as described with reference to FIGS. 7 through10.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1800 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1805 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1805 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1805 may beperformed by an aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1810 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1810 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1810may be performed by an aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1815 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1815 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1815 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1820 the wireless device may transmit a first set of packets to thesecond wireless device via a first wireless link of the plurality ofwireless links, the first set of packets associated with a first trafficidentifier. The operations of 1820 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 1820 may be performed by a packet controller as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1825 the wireless device may transmit a second set of packets to thesecond wireless device via a second wireless link of the plurality ofwireless links. In some cases, the second set of packets may beassociated with the first traffic identifier. Alternatively, the secondset of packets may be associated with a second traffic identifier. Theoperations of 1825 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1825 may beperformed by a packet controller as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1900 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 1905 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 1905 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1905 may beperformed by a aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1910 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 1910 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1910may be performed by a aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 1915 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 1915 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 1915 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1920 the wireless device may identify a transmission type for a setof packets to be transmitted to the second wireless device, thetransmission type comprising broadcast, multicast, or unicast. Theoperations of 1920 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 1920 may beperformed by a packet controller as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 1925 the wireless device may transmit the set of packets over a firstwireless link of the plurality of wireless links based at least in parton identifying the transmission type for the set of packets asbroadcast, or multicast, or a combination thereof, or transmit the setof packets over a second wireless link of the plurality of wirelesslinks based at least in part on identifying the transmission type forthe set of packets as unicast. The operations of 1925 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspectsof the operations of 1925 may be performed by a packet controller asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 for signaling forlink aggregation setup and reconfiguration in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may be implementedby a STA 115, an AP 105, or any of the wireless devices (e.g., wirelessdevice 305) or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 2000 may be performed by a communications manageras described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10. In some examples, awireless device may execute a set of codes to control the functionalelements of the device to perform the functions described below.Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device may perform aspectsof the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 2005 the wireless device may identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of the first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links. Theoperations of 2005 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 2005 may beperformed by a aggregation capability identifier as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 2010 the wireless device may receive second aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless links.The operations of 2010 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of 2010may be performed by a aggregation capability manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 2015 the wireless device may establish the multi-link session betweenthe first wireless device and the second wireless device based at leastin part on the identified first aggregation capability information andthe received second aggregation capability information. The operationsof 2015 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of 2015 may be performed bya multi-link session manager as described with reference to FIGS. 7through 10.

At 2020 the wireless device may identify a frame type for a set ofpackets to be transmitted to the second wireless device, the frame typecomprising data, control, or management. The operations of 2020 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of 2020 may be performed by a packetcontroller as described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

At 2025 the wireless device may transmit the set of packets over a firstwireless link of the plurality of wireless links based at least in parton identifying the frame type for the set of packets as data, ortransmit the set of packets over a second wireless link of the pluralityof wireless links based at least in part on identifying the frame typefor the set of packets as control, or management, or a combinationthereof. The operations of 2025 may be performed according to themethods described herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operationsof 2025 may be performed by a packet controller as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10.

It should be noted that the methods described above describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Furthermore, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.The terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably. A CDMAsystem may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95,and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases may be commonly referred to asCDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to asCDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system mayimplement a radio technology such as Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radio technologysuch as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc.

The wireless communications system or systems described herein maysupport synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronousoperation, the stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissionsfrom different stations may be approximately aligned in time. Forasynchronous operation, the stations may have different frame timing,and transmissions from different stations may not be aligned in time.The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous orasynchronous operations.

The downlink transmissions described herein may also be called forwardlink transmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be calledreverse link transmissions. Each communication link describedherein—including, for example, WLANs 100 and 200 of FIGS. 1 and 2—mayinclude one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made upof multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of differentfrequencies).

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the above description may berepresented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magneticfields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combinationthereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above may be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C meansA or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, asused herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a referenceto a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step that isdescribed as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition Aand a condition B without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shallbe construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in parton.”

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that canbe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc,as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the artto make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosurewill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other variations withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is notlimited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to beaccorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: a processor; memory in electronic communication with theprocessor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable, whenexecuted by the processor to cause the apparatus to: identify firstaggregation capability information indicating a capability of a firstwireless device to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wirelesslinks and indicating an association between one or more first trafficidentifiers (TIDs) and the plurality of wireless links; receive secondaggregation capability information from a second wireless device, thesecond aggregation capability information indicating a capability of thesecond wireless device to communicate in parallel over the plurality ofwireless links and indicating an association between one or more secondTIDs and the plurality of wireless links; identify, based at least inpart on the first aggregation capability information and the secondaggregation capability information, an association between a first setof one or more TIDs and a first set of one or more wireless links of theplurality of wireless links and between a second set of one or more TIDsand a second set of one or more wireless links of the plurality ofwireless links; and establish the multi-link session between the firstwireless device and the second wireless device based at least in part onthe identified first aggregation capability information, the receivedsecond aggregation capability information, and the association.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable bythe processor to: transmit a request for the second aggregationcapability information of the second wireless device, wherein the secondaggregation capability information is received from the second wirelessdevice based at least in part on the transmitted request.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable bythe processor to: receive a management frame, a control frame, or a dataframe that includes the second aggregation capability information. 4.The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the management frame, the controlframe, or the data frame comprises a beacon, or a probe response, or anassociation response, or a dedicated action frame, or a control field inthe management frame, or a control field in the control frame, or acontrol field in the data frame, or a combination thereof.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable bythe processor to: receive a request for the first aggregation capabilityinformation from the second wireless device; and transmit, to the secondwireless device in response to the received request, the firstaggregation capability information of the first wireless device.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the first aggregation capabilityinformation comprises an indication of a duration for which the firstwireless device is willing to communicate in parallel over the pluralityof wireless links.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the instructionsare further executable by the processor to: receive a management frame,a control frame, or a data frame that includes the request for the firstaggregation capability information.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe management frame, the control frame, or the data frame comprises aprobe request, or an association request, or a dedicated action frame,or a control field in the management frame, or a control field in thecontrol frame, or a control field in the data frame, or a combinationthereof.
 9. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second aggregationcapability information is received with the received request for thefirst aggregation capability information.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to:advertise the first aggregation capability information of the firstwireless device.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the firstaggregation capability information, or the second aggregation capabilityinformation, or both comprise an aggregation type, or linkidentification information, or a receive queue size, or a blockacknowledgement bitmap size, or an indication of fragmentation support,or a combination thereof.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at leastone of the plurality of wireless links comprises a channel in a sharedradio frequency spectrum band.
 13. A method for wireless communication,comprising: identifying first aggregation capability informationindicating a capability of a first wireless device to communicate inparallel over a plurality of wireless links and indicating anassociation between one or more first traffic identifiers (TIDs) and theplurality of wireless links; receiving second aggregation capabilityinformation from a second wireless device, the second aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of the second wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over the plurality of wireless linksand indicating an association between one or more second TIDs and theplurality of wireless links; identifying based at least in part on thefirst aggregation capability information and the second aggregationcapability information, an association between a first set of one ormore TIDs and a first set of one or more wireless links of the pluralityof wireless links and between a second set of one or more TIDs and asecond set of one or more wireless links of the plurality of wirelesslinks; and establishing the multi-link session between the firstwireless device and the second wireless device based at least in part onthe identified first aggregation capability information, the receivedsecond aggregation capability information, and the association.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising: transmitting a request for thesecond aggregation capability information of the second wireless device,wherein the second aggregation capability information is received fromthe second wireless device based at least in part on the transmittedrequest.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving arequest for the first aggregation capability information from the secondwireless device; and transmitting, to the second wireless device inresponse to the received request, the first aggregation capabilityinformation of the first wireless device.
 16. An apparatus for wirelesscommunication, comprising: means for identifying first aggregationcapability information indicating a capability of a first wirelessdevice to communicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links andindicating an association between one or more first traffic identifiers(TIDs) and the plurality of wireless links; means for receiving secondaggregation capability information from a second wireless device, thesecond aggregation capability information indicating a capability of thesecond wireless device to communicate in parallel over the plurality ofwireless links and indicating an association between one or more secondTIDs and the plurality of wireless links; means for identifying based atleast in part on the first aggregation capability information and thesecond aggregation capability information, an association between afirst set of one or more TIDs and a first set of one or more wirelesslinks of the plurality of wireless links and between a second set of oneor more TIDs and a second set of one or more wireless links of theplurality of wireless links; and means for establishing the multi-linksession between the first wireless device and the second wireless devicebased at least in part on the identified first aggregation capabilityinformation, the received second aggregation capability information, andthe association.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcode for wireless communication, the code comprising instructionsexecutable by a processor to: identify first aggregation capabilityinformation indicating a capability of a first wireless device tocommunicate in parallel over a plurality of wireless links andindicating an association between one or more first traffic identifiers(TIDs) and the plurality of wireless links; receive second aggregationcapability information from the second wireless device, the secondaggregation capability information indicating a capability of a secondwireless device to communicate in parallel over the plurality ofwireless links and indicating an association between one or more secondTIDs and the plurality of wireless links; identify, based at least inpart on the first aggregation capability information and the secondaggregation capability information, an association between a first setof one or more TIDs and a first set of one or more wireless links of theplurality of wireless links and between a second set of one or more TIDsand a second set of one or more wireless links of the plurality ofwireless links; and establish the multi-link session between the firstwireless device and the second wireless device based at least in part onthe identified first aggregation capability information, the receivedsecond aggregation capability information, and the association.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to identify theassociation comprise instructions to: identify that each TID of thefirst set of one or more TIDs is associated with each of the pluralityof links and that each TID of the second set of one or more TIDs isassociated with each of the plurality of links.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the instructions to identify the association compriseinstructions to: identify that the first set of one or more TIDscomprises a first subset of the plurality of TIDs, wherein the first setof one or more links comprises a first subset of the plurality of links;and identify that the second set of one or more TIDs comprises a secondsubset of the plurality of TIDs different from the first subset of theplurality of TIDs, wherein the second set of one or more links comprisesa second subset of the plurality of links.
 20. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the instructions to identify the association compriseinstructions to: identify that the first set of one or more TIDs or thesecond set of one or more TIDs comprises a plurality of all availableTIDs; and identify that the first set of one or more links or the secondset of one or more links comprises a subset of the plurality of links.21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to identify theassociation comprise instructions to: identify that the first set of oneor more TIDs or the second set of one or more TIDs comprises a subset ofa plurality available TIDs; and identify that the first set of one ormore links or the second set of one or more links comprises theplurality of links.